Bdib
New Member
Posts: 21
|
Post by Bdib on Jan 9, 2013 21:46:03 GMT -7
A single waxy candle burns low on the desk of a small second story room. The sounds of a raucous common room briefly fill it and then are shut out when the room's occupant enters and closes the door behind her. She knuckles her back with fatigue as she discards her scarf and stows the night's earnings. She kneels and retrieves a small and worn wooden box from within her luggage.
Stifling a yawn, she sits at the desk and looks out the window at Magnimar's glowing perpetual dawn of lanterns and torches, burning back the night for its sailors and citizens alike. It somehow seems darker than if it were illuminated by starlight. The woman turns back to the desk, opening the small case and upending the contents before her, a set of cards.
"What should I do tomorrow to teach the Sczarni a lesson?"
The question is asked to the empty air, and it doesn't seem like she expects a response. She then mutters, "Wisdom is probably the most appropriate." under her breath.
She pulls a card from the deck and places it in the upper left section of the desk.
"The Desert" she says, "There will be a situation so dangerous, it won't be survivable without help... but will I be helping, or unable to survive without help?"
She places another card, in the middle-top of the desk.
"The Forge" she says, "I will meet diverse people, and together we will unite our strength toward a common goal."
A card is placed in the upper right.
"The Cricket" she says, "There will be a short journey planned, with a reward."
She places a card on the left-middle.
"The Rabbit Prince" she says, "Perhaps the one who faces the dangerous situation is a prince, or the situation is a desperate melee."
The middle card is placed.
"The Lost" she pauses for some time. The Lost is a Wisdom card, and so unless another wisdom card is revealed at a higher level of auspiciousness, it will represent the most significant aspect of the reading. "Madness. Perhaps relating to the task or journey? Perhaps some harrowing event on the road? Or maybe the diverse group working together will include the irretrievably insane..." She shudders and moves on.
The middle-right card is placed.
"The Marriage" she says, "A union of ideas, with unknown result, good or bad. Perhaps a new partnership is forged at the end of the short journey."
The lower-left card is dealt.
"The Tyrant" she says, "Perhaps the Rabbit Prince is a young noble, with perhaps not so noble intentions. Or perhaps the desperate survival situation is actually the Sczarni's shadow rule, and I'll need help to survive it."
She places the lower middle card, the Harrowing nearly over.
"The Avalanche" she says after a moment's hesitation, "A disaster, unthinking panic, and destruction that overrides all. Perhaps the journey ends in disaster... at least for some. If The Lost were in the Future aspect, I'd imagine that Madness would be the result of this disaster, but that is a Present aspect. It... must be physical then."
A Harrowing must not be left undone, no matter how unfortunate the draw seems to be. The final card is placed.
"The Mountain Man... an encounter with a physically powerful enemy."
She sits in silence for a moment, meditating on the meaning. "Tomorrow I will encounter a minor noble, either he will be in trouble or I will be, likely involving a melee of some sort. I will draw together a diverse group, diverse either because they are mad, or because they are different. We will take a journey together which will end in reward, but strangely, also disaster. My compact with the diverse group, or with the noble will be ongoing, or take place after the journey. Either the trouble that the minor noble is in is the result of an entrenched evil, or the noble is a tyrant himself. Someone will die on the journey in an encounter with a powerful physical threat."
She sighed, it had been months since losing her family, and still her fate seemed startlingly marred by ill luck. She lays herself down in bed, leaving the squat candle burning, its light barely illuminating the Harrow deck against the darkness of the night.
|
|
Bdib
New Member
Posts: 21
|
Post by Bdib on Jan 16, 2013 12:41:57 GMT -7
The candle in the center of the rough wooden table is so well used that its waxy meltoff covers a good portion of the center of the table, looking more like a hill, growing organically out of the wooden surface.
A woman sits at the table, idly tapping her foot in time with the music as she looks into her wine as if it holds the secrets of the future. An older, foreign woman is singing songs of great heroism, but they aren't the songs of this woman's youth. A shadow falls over her and she looks up.
A cloaked figure stands over her, its face enshrouded. Too wide to be in a relaxed stance, they must be standing with arms akimbo, making it impossible to tell how thick or thin, bulky or gaunt the figure was. The figure lingers.
"Can I help you?" the woman says carefully, reminding herself of the fastest escape route.
"Mistress Zeldana, I had thought you were going by Ariela, but you seemed to have dropped the act." The voice comes out monotone, and raspy. Either it is a man's voice, broken with age and abuse or anyone's voice, masked with a facade of the former.
The woman froze, then calmly set her wineglass down. "A precaution, no malice intended. One has no way of knowing how much others know about one's past."
The figure took a seat opposite the woman and sat in silence for a time, apparently listening to the singer as she depicted the Great Hunt for the Cymbal.
"I understand, Mistress Zeldana, that you are carrying your Harrow deck with you at the moment?" The voice rasps from within the hood.
"As a matter of fact, I am. Would you like a reading?" the woman asks
"Trying to get a clue as to my identity? Harrow won't help, but yes, I'm interested in hearing your reading of coming events."
The woman realizes that this individual is very dangerous, and has her at a disadvantage. Something is brewing, and this individual is involved. It is likely he will be her enemy, and he is clearly fishing for information on her knowledge... of her capabilities. However, the easiest rube is the one who thinks he's immune to your insights. The risk will be all his if she reads his fortune. She grins and appears her Harrow deck into her hand.
"I'll need a question, to direct your fortune."
"Ah, so... What does the Swallowtail Festival hold for this town?"
The woman hesitated. "Charisma"
The first card is placed. "The Demon's Lantern, in the Lawful Good position. A total miss, to be disregarded." She explains. However, in a reverse reading, it represents an impossible situation of traps and mind games, an inescapable trap. In a reverse reading, its position is a square hit, and very auspicious. Perhaps the festival was a distraction to hide some nefarious purpose, or an event at the festival was actually some sort of trap.
"Ah, how disappointing, moving on..." The rasp begins to irritate the young woman.
The second card is placed. "The Mountain Man, a physical power outside your control will confront you, perhaps you will participate in a game of strength, or will bet on an outcome. We'll see if you'll win money or lose it."
"Indeed, though that would spoil the fun, wouldn't it, knowing if you'll win or lose?"
"It seems one would not ask a Harrow reading if you did not want to know ahead of time what was in store for you." She puts in wryly.
"I didn't mean to offend you, please continue." The rasp sounds so coy that the offense strikes deeper. The woman can't help but think that in an inverted reading, it could represent a danger to the town in some physical form.
The third card is placed. "The Cyclone..." The card would be discarded like the Demon Lantern, but it lands in the future position, a position of chaos... and on an inverted reading is evil, and thus a partial match no matter how the board is turned. "An unstoppable destructive force, my, this festival seems to be incredibly unlucky for you, perhaps a terrible accident will befall you, or you'll sustain some injury at your physical challenge." In an inverted reading, the destructive force will strike the festivities at large, and it would be set upon the festival by the plans of intelligent creatures.
The fourth card is placed. "The Empty Throne" She considers for a moment, thinking about the inverted meaning as well has thrown her off, "The town has something to learn from those gone by. The past can teach us much, and that will feature prominently in tomorrow's festival."
"Anyone familiar with the festival would be able to know that."
"Yes, but the Harrow cards agree, and as a Charisma card, it may well be the most significant aspect of the reading... the festival's history, its continuity is more important than any single aspect of it." She retorts, an edge of defensiveness on display. As a Lawful Good card, it would be particularly significant in a normal reading, as it's placed in the Lawful aspect, but in an inverted reading, its significance would be diminished. She cannot shake the feeling that the significance of history will be undone by the subject of her reading.
The fifth card is placed, "The Peacock" She says, "The festival represents something beautiful, but fragile, that it must be frozen for eternity to retain its grace."
"Some would claim that preserving beauty in such a way would in fact be destroying it... that true beauty is always temporary. As a beautiful young woman, I'm sure you don't think of this often."
The woman colored, the cloaked figure knew entirely too much about her for her comfort, and she was discovering disturbingly little about this cloaked figure. It was too late now, the reading must continue.
The sixth card is placed, "The Survivor" She says, "An individual survives against all odds, a chronic sickness or disability is cured, or hope shines through when all was thought lost." an anomaly, a card of equal auspiciousness in either reading frame.
The seventh card is placed, "The Locksmith" She says, "The keys to fate. The city is fertile ground to unlock the future, our destinies or purposes are to be lain bare in some respect in the festival."
The eighth card is placed, "The Theater" she hesitates... the Theater is also a Charisma card, and the Empty Throne would act primary in the overall reading in a normal reading frame, but in the inverted form, the Theater is a True Match, and would represent the strongest aspect of the reading. "We must act according to our roles, to not go against our fate and accept what comes as part of the divine, and we will be better off as a result. Perhaps you are to lose your money in your bet, or lose your contest of skill, but you should still go forth and make the attempt anyway, because it is your fate, and it will lead to weal in the end."
The figure says nothing, but looks suddenly uncomfortable.
The final card is placed, "The Hidden Truth" she looks directly at where the eyes should be beneath that hood and says, "Inauspicious placement, disregard." In the inverted reading, it represents a hidden truth revealed.
"I thank you for your reading, I am sure the festival will be quite interesting, if your cards are to be believed." the figure drops a handful of silver and rises. The woman waits for the figure to get as far as the door and rises herself, dancing between customers to make her way to the door after the figure as quickly as she can. Pounding out the door, she looks wildly to the left and right. No cloaked figures.
On the ground in front of her, a discarded black cloak.
Depending on the reading frame, the festival will be a reaffirmation of a miraculous cure or save, cementing the knowledge of the past and passing it on to future generations, or a violent attack, leading to saving someone from certain doom, and representing the doorway to a destiny in which we must all adopt our correct roles.
"I'm going to need another drink."
OOC: From now on, I was thinking that at the end of each session, I'd ask the players if they want their character to have had asked my character for a reading before the events of that session, and supply a question about which to direct the reading, so that I can put PCs in the summary itself.
|
|
Bdib
New Member
Posts: 21
|
Post by Bdib on Feb 11, 2013 18:00:35 GMT -7
The dusky skinned woman scrapes off the flaky wax of a used candle into a bin before returning to her drink. The soft amber beams of midafternoon sun lay in striped patterns across the common room floor, shining in through open windows and doors, accompanying the sound of a busy street outside.
Inside was blessedly still though, and the woman sighs as she leans back in her chair, her eyes closing. It is nice to get a moment to herself after a night and morning filled with trickery.
Flop. What is that sound? Flop flop flop.
She opens her eyes. The merfolk girl sits across from her, resting on her tail, leaning on the table with palms spread for balance.
"I need your help, and I need it fast." The look on her face is extremely serious, a look the woman is not yet used to seeing on her acquaintance.
"Slow down, what do you need from me?."
"Aimeko is missing, we think she's been abducted, and the last place she was supposed to have been was the Glassworks.”
“And you want me to help search?” the dusky skinned woman half rises out of her seat.
The merfolk girl looks a little embarrassed, “Er, I suppose so, but I was actually going to ask first if you would do a Harrow reading.
A mischevious glint appears in the woman's golden eyes as she appears her Harrow deck into her hand.
“To bless an endevor so could ensure its success, or warn you ahead of time of its inevitable failure. Still, many don't wish to know what the future holds for them, prefering blindness to a candle in the dark. Are you sure you want to go ahead?”
“Please... it's important. As long as it doesn't take too long... everyone else is gathering supplies, but I'd rather not be late.” The sea dwelling creature said seriously.
“Then I'll waste no more time. How do you want to ask your question?”
“What do you mean?” the girl asked, raising one eyebrow.
“Every reading needs a specific question to focus the fates. What do you want to learn?”
“Is Aimeko in the Glassworks?”
“I'm sorry, that's a little too specific. Questions that have definitive yes or no answers don't return useful information... you need to ask it more qualitatively... like, “How will we find Aimeko?” or “What will we need to do to find Aimeko?”
The merfolk girl tapped her forefinger on her lip for a moment in thought, “Will we find Aimeko unharmed?”
The golden eyed woman readies the deck of cards, “A dexterity question.”
The first card is placed.
“The Inquisitor, there will be an attempt to decieve, but the illusion will be seen through. Perhaps the Glassworks is a trap, or misdirection on the part of the kidnappers, but it will be seen through or overcome.”
“Oh, that's good news! Or... at the least not bad news.” The Merfolk responds
The second card is placed.
“The Idiot, a sign of hubris, folly, bribery, blackmail, or indeed kidnapping. The kidnapper thinks much more highly of him or herself than he or she really deserves. While the kidnapping and the rest of the plot is ill fated and ill advised, there may still be much damage done on their path to failure, as the next column will reveal.” the dusky skinned woman explains in a concerned voice as the merfolk girl starts grinning broadly. Her smile stifled, the woman continues.
The third card is placed
“The Liar, destructive, treacherous love or obsession... Charisma, the suit of this card, can indicate family or betrayal of relationships... perhaps the kidnapper is related to Aimeko.”
“Oh yes, her brother is the one who sent her the letter telling her to meet at the Glassworks just before she disappeared!”
“Ah, perhaps, but remember, he could be betraying his father to his sister or his sister to his father... family relationships are often much more complicated than the fates can understand.” the Harrow reader looks melancholy, her words falling softly. The Merfolk girl stays silent for a moment, and is cut off when she appears about to say something with the placement of the fourth card.
“The Publican... a total misalignment, insignificant and can be disregarded.”
“What do you mean?” the Merfolk girl asks.
“Well, each card has a quality of good, evil, chaos and law, and each corresponds to a position. With 'closeness' to the correct position, the more relevant it is, particularly for any card with the correct ability correspondance... in this case the ability aspect of the card is Wisdom if it were Dexterity, it'd likely have some significance even though its position is inappropriate.”
“I... see.” the merfolk girl looked, if anything, more confused.
Fifth.
“The Keep. Someone in danger now has a quiet, unshakable strength that will see him or her through danger. With the question asked, this can only mean that Aimeko is strong enough to get through this...”
Sixth.
“The Rabbit Prince, representing the vicissitudes of combat. Anyone can be felled by combat... even the strongest.”
“Oh, does that mean Aimeko is going to be hurt, in spite of her strength?”
“Perhaps... although the Rabbit Prince also sometimes represents a minor noble, and if Aimeko's brother is her kidnapper, it means his strength could fail him as easily as it means hers could fail her. It's also the most significant aspect of the reading, being perfectly auspicious in both placement and ability affinity.”
“That's good news then, right?”
“As good as can be hoped.” the woman continues with the seventh card.
“The Avalanche...” the dusky skinned woman pauses...
“What is it?” the Merfolk says, impatience melding with concern.
“The Avalanche represents terrible disaster, as in someone's death. Worse still, it's just as auspicious in every way as the Rabbit Prince. I'm certain that someone has already died as a result of this kidnapping, this betrayal of family...
“But I thought Aimeko's strength would see her through!”
“It's possible she's not the one who died. The Avalanche is uncaring about identity, just that someone died or that some disaster happened. In another placement it could indicate the death of a terrible enemy. Here though... I think it means someone has already died.”
Eighth.
“The Brass Dwarf... someone is impervious to the current danger... someone involved will survive. With the earlier Keep card, I'd say that Aimeko is alive and will be relatively unharmed. It's someone else who has died already. I'll hurry with the last card so that we can get our search underway.”
The final card is placed.
“The Courtesan... superficial politeness will result in nothing productive... I'm not sure what this might mean in light of the other cards... I'm not certain what the future will hold.”
“Well, I guess no one really is. We're not alone in that.” The merfolk girl looks sadly at the faceup cards.
“No...” the woman scoops them up with incredible deftness, and disappears them away again just as fast. “...I suppose not.”
|
|
Bdib
New Member
Posts: 21
|
Post by Bdib on Feb 19, 2013 18:26:08 GMT -7
The woman draws her shawl closer about her shoulders, smiling her thanks at the barmaid who lights the candle in the middle of her table against encroaching twilight. She allows herself to be lulled by the singing of the foreign proprietor of the inn. Admirable, she thinks, to spring back from the murder of ones father and imprisonment of ones brother and the same night sing Tangled in the Haystack to a cheering crowd. A strength the woman reflects, she might have room to learn from.
A movement catches her eye and she looks up. Her heart skips a beat. The beautiful blonde stranger leverages himself carefully down the steps and into the common room. He wore his smoked glasses. He had mentioned wearing them to be comfortable in the sunnier climate, but if he was so sensitive to light that the candles and lamps of a common room bothered him, he must still be badly injured.
The blonde man had so far been tight-lipped about his past, and indeed his nature. When the Kelishite woman had released a burst of holy light, it had torn through his body with the same force as the skeletons... yet he clearly ate, slept... his body was not rotting away and his eyes... clearly not any sort of soulless undead she could imagine.
The woman almost started in surprise when she realized that she had been staring, and what's more, he loomed over her, standing across her table from her.
"Excuse me, may I join you?" His smooth voice cascaded over her, his slight unrecognizable accent like warm water. She schooled her features, nothing must be given away for free. Nonchalantly leaning back, she indicated the seat across from her, "It's a free common room."
Gingerly taking his seat, he looks pained. Earlier today he had fallen in battle with a mutated goblin, and regrettably enough, her healing magics could not touch his wounds. She wonders idly if her main regret over the matter is that she hadn't played the role of his savior. Perhaps eventually she would.
“So can you do it for me?” the woman blinks, apparently he had spoken while she was distracted by her thoughts. Focusing on not allowing her embarrassment to show through, she nods and says, “I'll do whatever I can for you.”
A moment passes awkwardly, both sitting and waiting expectantly.
“I... am given to understand that a question must be asked first?” the man inquires with a tiny share of consternation. The woman hopes her confusion doesn't show on her face. What the heck is he talking about? “...To focus the fates?”
Oh, a Harrow reading. The woman tries not to make her relief too apparent as she leans back. “Your understanding of my culture is admirable for an outlander... where do you come from again?”
It is now the stranger's turn to grow stiff and uncomfortable. He grates out a simple, “Ustalav” after a pause.
“Ah, that isn't so surprising then, since Ustalav is culturally cousin to Varisia.” The woman silently curses herself, having the young man across from her think of her as 'cousin' wasn't exactly her goal. She attempts to move on, “You don't appear similar to any Varisians or Ustalavians I've ever met though, with your fair skin... were you born to an outlander?” If anything, the stranger appears to grow more uncomfortable. “...In a way.”
“I'm sorry, here you're asking me to give you a reading and I'm prying into your business instead.” She feels her cheeks coloring in truth and chooses not to stop herself from showing her embarrassment while pulling out her Harrow deck without the flair she normally uses. If she appears more uncomfortable than he, perhaps he would take sympathy and volunteer the information.
A moment passes. Oh well, a poor attempt at a gamble anyway.
“So what question do you wish to ask?” she idly flips cards between her hands, building up what showmanship she still could.
“I was going to ask.” He shifted his weight, grimacing in obvious pain, “If I should stay with this group and continue taking a beating for our shared interests, or go and forge my own interests.”
The woman paused. She had observed the strange, pale man's preternatural strength, unexpected out of a person so thin and willowy. She wondered if she herself had lived through the last few days without his swift spear.
“Very well...Clearly a Constitution question... the first card... The Eclipse. Representing recent history where you have lost faith in your strength. You have run into perhaps your first real defeat and it has made you reconsider.”
“Naturally, that IS what I just told you.”
“Of course, but you telling me that didn't conjure that card into that position. The lawful position, the position indicating a past event, is always going to be the most certain. If the future were truly set, the fortune would signify nothing.” Reflecting on this, the woman realizes if she didn't have so much respect for the prophecy, that using misdirection to place the cards into the order she wished would be a fine trick for manipulating what her fortunes would say.
She carefully places the second card.
“The Unicorn. You currently are offering your services freely, or there is another offering something generously and freely. The fortunes of those involved are indicated to be beneficial... its placement on the topmost row indicates this benefit for all involved.” She reflects that she isn't really bending the truth THAT much in this case... it really does indicate good fortune, but doesn't specifically indicate the giver...
The third card is placed.
“The Waxworks, a situation comes which indicates terrible fear, helplessness, paralysis, and pain.” There is no room to reinterpret in a much better light... “Its position is not terribly auspicious, but your future does indicate pain in your future, although it isn't clear yet whether you are meant to suffer it, or your allies, or if it is shared.”
“It's clear if I continue, the pain will be shared. What I'm interested in is the fear or paralysis... what do you mean by that?”
“I get the sense that you will confront a situation which will intimidate you to the point of fleeing. However, fleeing is a sensible plan in many circumstances... I believe going into this situation with your eyes wide open will allow you to make the best decision.”
“Hmph, I doubt very much that I will find myself intimidated... fear is a useless emotion and my mind is walled off against external influence like that.”
The woman saw no reason to assure him that his fortune was to be terrified if he was going to create his own illusions to stay with them and allow their survival and she placed the fourth card.
“The Teamster. A force drives you on, dictates your path and forces you to proceed down that path. If you're reconsidering your path, you will need to address this force head-on.”
The pale skinned man was silent, almost suspiciously so. The woman moved on.
“The Marriage... a union of ideas and people that will lead either to great things, or terrible ruin. Its relation to the Unicorn indicates to me that the generous individual indicated by the Unicorn may not be an individual at all, but a group, and may be our group... and that forging deeper ties with us will bring either great heights, or deep lows.”
“I see... that isn't terribly helpful.”
“Well, however you decide, know that it will have auspicious consequences.”
To avoid continuing to talk about how disastrous it could be for him to continue adventuring with her and the rest of the group, she quickly places the next card.
“The Rabbit Prince.” She pauses... representing the unpredictability of combat and strength failing a noble... perhaps not the way she wants to emphasize the interpretation if she doesn't want him to leave them all behind to die. She wasn't sure he was nobility, but someone so beautiful and elegant was as likely as not carrying some noble blood. “A vicious melee will occur, and it will relate to the source of your paralyzing fear... you will doubt your strength, but your allies will be there to render aid, and you will overcome it.”
“You seem pretty sure the Marriage indicates something very positive now, but you mentioned it could also represent great ill... are you certain?”
The woman admits to herself that the reading she was giving was beginning to appear pretty baldly self serving... from another perspective it appeared that the answer to the man's question was clearly that he should take the fastest horse out of town and never look back. Still, she couldn't exactly go back on her reading at this point.
“The Chaotic future can never be known for certain... even the reading itself could change your fortune. However, every indication so far is that generosity and teamwork will carry us through exceptionally difficult times.”
“Hrm...” he draws silent. The seventh card is placed in silence.
“The Juggler... a total misalignment, to be disregarded.”
The stranger raised a forefinger, “Ah, if I may ask... forgive me, but if it were in the first card's position, what would it represent?”
A strange question. The woman shrugs her shoulders, “It would represent fate, and those who deal in it or manipulate it. It also carries a subtle undercurrent of trouble. It'd set the topic for the situation of a good condition being... well, me I suppose.”
“Hmm... interesting... how about the next card?”
She places it at his request.
“The Publican, an inauspicious placement, but not a total misalignment. It represents fellowship or close friendship and refuge against danger. Its significance is fairly limited, but it does reinforce the idea that together as a group we will get through the difficulties ahead.”
“Doesn't the Publican usually represent an individual, with insight, and not usually groups, like Marriage does?”
“Well, yes, you're right, but it's not even very important to the overall reading, and nothing else has really indicated an individual with any significance... maybe it's best to simply disregard this one.”
“Hrm...” a slight nod, an unreadable expression lurks behind those smoked glasses.
The final card is placed.
“The Desert... a dangerous situation, survivable only with assistance.”
“Ah, again I find myself told of terrible danger, but fellowship is my refuge I assume?” The man asks, a tone in his voice indicating half amusement, half incredulity.
“Ah... well, that does appear to be the... ah... the case.”
The beautiful stranger sighs, “Forgive me, I asked you a favor and now I throw it back in your face. I am truly tired, and hungry, and my magics fail me. I find myself at my lowest and stab at those around me without aim.” He leverages himself to a standing position, a pained expression passing over his features.
“I thank you for your attempts to put me back together, I'm not sure whose stitches these are, but I know skilled hands when I see them. Perhaps you are indeed my fellow.” He pulls his glasses from his face and stows them in an inner pocket, smiling, “I am returning to bed, we will speak tomorrow.” and he swept off, graceful even when limping.
The woman looks over the cards still laid before her. Something doesn't feel right. Too many cards seem inauspicious in strange ways... indicating situations that don't ring true. Rubbing her eyes she blinks sleep from her eyes. Perhaps following his lead would be for the best. As she stands, she begins to scoop her cards up, when she realizes a strange symmetry in the card placement. In a reverse reading, the meaning of the doubt in his abilities isn't lost, and the Desert and Waxworks only grow more significant... that pain and terror are ahead... for her. His cultural heritage would give him some insight into the process, and would know about revese readings... the only case where the Juggler and Publican would become significant, and the way he asked about them indicated he was interested in their significance in just such a reading frame.
But that would mean he was evil.
The woman considers soberly. Perhaps it is a bad idea to become involved with him.
|
|
Bdib
New Member
Posts: 21
|
Post by Bdib on Feb 19, 2013 21:14:12 GMT -7
The scritch-scratch of pens echo just slightly in the cavernous dark cathedral as the dusky skinned woman restrings her bow. The situation is dire, and she readies herself as best she can, eyebrows wrinkled in concern. She looked to one of the sources of the pen sounds, the devil. His face rotates while writing between rage, pride, intensity, and cruel humor. Sensing her attention, he looks up at her and gives her a thumbs-up, crushing his pen between his hardened fist as he does so.
She smiles back and returns to her task. She had healed him moments earlier, his blood forming a near-perfect circle in the center of the dark temple's floor. Each of them walked the edge of death and with the warning given, she was certain they would have no chance. Her hands tremble at their task, damn this bowstring.
“Excuse me.” the dusky skinned woman nearly jumped in surprise. The merfolk girl sat unexpectedly close. She must be really worked up if she didn't notice HER approach.
“Ah, yes?” She recovers only a slight portion of her composure.
“Er... would you do a reading for me?”
The woman blinks her golden eyes in surprise. “What? Really? Here?”
“Uh... yes.” the merfolk girl looks a little uncomfortable, a little apprehensive.
A moment passes, the woman unsure of how to react.
“What if the goblins break down the door and storm the room?”
“Well, I suppose we'd interrupt the reading... what's the worst that can happen? We all die?” for some reason this actually seems incredibly funny to the dusky skinned woman.
“I... I suppose so.” She grins, “What's your question then?”
“Well,” the Merfolk girl considers, “I've been wondering if there's anyone here worth sparing... since you seemed insistant on sparing that wizard... Is there anyone in this place who is not our enemy?”
The dusky skinned woman wasn't sure she could really draw much insight into that question, since 'enemy' is such a fluid concept, but it had occurred to her that the Merfolk might be simply looking for reassurance in the face of such darkness. She draws her Harrow deck and squats well away from the bloodstains on the floor.
“Very well... although don't be discouraged if the answer is No. The question relates to conflict, and so is significant to the Strength aspect.”
The first card is placed on the dingy stone ground.
“The Tangled Briar, a creature with significant history has a bearing on the question... perhaps the angelic ancestry of Nualia will render her redeemable, and she isn't truly the enemy we think she is.”
The merfolk girl looks skeptical, but smiles and doesn't interrupt.
The second card is placed.
“The Inquisitor, a low degree of relevance, but someone will not be fooled by deception. I'd say this applies as a warning... that if we intend to draw someone from the side of our opponents to our own side, it must be done in good faith, because they will not be fooled by deception. If we make a promise, we must make good on it.”
The merfolk girl seems to nod an affirmation at that... eyes scanning the air above the dusky skinned woman and biting her lip as if trying to imagine how it might apply. She couldn't help but grin, the girl's enthusiasm and earnestness was infectious and she felt herself relaxing.
The third card is placed.
“The Dance. A complex framework that requires everyone involved to participate or else fall through entirely. We must all be totally committed to a choice, and not second guess each other any time we attempt to convince someone here to join our side. If we undermine one another, we shall ruin any chance we have.”
“So we shouldn't disagree with you when you ask to spare a person?”
“Well, I should hope not... but in terms of the reading, sparing a person could be a key to drawing someone to our side... but I also can't undercut any of you if the decision involves something I would naturally feel resistance to... The point is we need to trust one another, even when we appear to be acting rashly, or else it will fall apart.”
“I think I see...”
The fourth card is placed.
“The Bear, pure strength and resilience, untamed and untamable. The one or ones who can be turned to our side will not be tamed by us any more than they are by our enemies now. We must be cautious, but they will be an immensely powerful ally.”
The fifth card is placed.
“The Owl, we must admit the harsh realities of the natural order... life ends, and nothing can stop that. We must accept it, but death also brings new life, and so we must not fear it either.”
“Sounds like a reassuring platitude.” the Merfolk says, “But I wouldn't want to die.”
“Neither do I... neither do I.”
She places the sixth card.
“The Winged Serpent. The coatl represents the intersection between knowledge, what is definitively true of a person or situation, and the judgement we make about what is unknown. A decision will be made, and it will be made with wisdom, even if it is made on incomplete knowledge.”
The seventh card is placed.
“The Keep--” “Oh, I remember this one! Our strength will see us through!” The Merfolk girl interrupts.
The golden eyed girl chuckles awkwardly, “Yes, however, its position is less auspicious than the Bear, so it isn't the most significant portion of this reading. In fact, its poor alignment could indicate that in spite of our unshakable strength, we may falter, and fail.”
“Huh... that's depressing.”
“It perhaps might be best not to look too much into it... it's timeline alignment is in the Lawful quadrant, indicating it may be that we have already faltered, and we clearly haven't done so yet.” she smiled reassurance at the merfolk.
The eighth card is placed.
“The Locksmith, the ally we stand a chance to gain here can in fact unlock the way to a new set of challenges on the way towards our goal, or a reward. Perhaps they will know the way to Nualia, or will serve a similar funcion.”
The final card is placed.
“The Rabbit Prince.” She almost seems frustrated to see it. The fortune indicating melee combat had arrived a disturbing number of times in her readings of late. She reminds herself that her life has included much danger recently, and so a fortune indicating combat was to be expected. “Someone's strength will fail them... but it could indicate our enemies as much as it could relate to us.” She said this last bit to try and encourage and focus her ally... the position and relevance to the Keep made it highly likely one of them was to find themselves falling in battle. Looking at the devil, she decided it most likely would be him... and with the Owl lurking nearby, it would take every effort to prevent him from being slain in such a situation.
Collecting her cards she says, “So you see, even in this dark place, there is some hope... we may yet find allies here after all, and their strength might see us home safely after all.”
The merfolk nodded and turned to flop away without comment or much expression. So she had failed to reassure her ally... reflecting on the matter though, she found herself much more at peace. What had happened was already overcome, and what would come had its own challenges, but she had done what she could to prepare herself, and only fear could stop her now. She felt significantly stronger as she rose... dancing on the balls of her feet and ready to move and strike, and even more expressive than when she had squatted to lay out her cards.
This place wouldn't know what hit it.
(Two summaries in one day? Whaaaa? Maybe I'll actually be caught up going into the next session.)
|
|
Bdib
New Member
Posts: 21
|
Post by Bdib on Mar 4, 2013 16:32:22 GMT -7
The reborn woman stares at an extinguished candle upon the dark altar, trying to ignore the others that shared the room with her. She shivers and touches her throat, phantom pangs playing out over her skin there. She doesn't have a mirror to see if it has scarred, and not wanting to talk to anyone to ask. What would they think of them, if she asked them? Would they think it was the thing that most concerned her about her experience? Would they judge her as vain, the woeful misprioritization of youth? Would the woman with the twice broken nose look down on her and ask why the reborn woman was concerned with being marked? Would the woman with the elaborate tattoos argue that marks on ones' body should represent the experiences of the person, and should be embraced and celebrated? The reborn woman didn't really want to know what anyone else thought right now... she needs to figure out what she thinks.
The tattooed halfelf approaches her professionally. The reborn woman tries not to see the grisly trophy she had acquired while she had been dead.
"If you aren't too tired, I'd like a reading before we all turn in." The tattooed woman asks, her manner straightforward. The reborn woman sighed and turned away.
"What's the point? I didn't see my own death in the cards, what makes you think any other details will come through?"
The white haired halfelf does not respond for a moment, approaching to stand at the dark altar next to the reborn woman. She examines the unholy writ for a moment before speaking.
"The Aasimar lady was devoted to Lamashtu."
Both are quiet for a moment, the reborn woman waiting expectantly.
"Why do you think that she came to worship such a Demonic god?" the grey skinned woman continues when her meaning isn't divined by her companion.
"I wouldn't expect to know for sure, since she died in the fighting, but from what we gathered, she hated her divine blood, and sought to rid herself of it."
"Yes, but how do you expect she grew to hate her divine blood? Do you think she succeeded at everything? Memorized her lessons well, got on well with townspeople, did not experience and succumb to temptation?"
The reborn woman shakes her head slowly.
"If I had to guess, she worked for success in her life and got failure, and with no one to blame but herself, she sought to change herself. In her case she changed herself into someone who could not be expected to be perfect." the grey skinned woman continues.
"I'm not sure what you mean, are you saying I'm going to become evil?”
“What I'm saying is, you should not dig out of yourself the things that are good just because they have failed you once.”
Time passes. The Devil half-shouts in his sleep something about being too strong to need sleep. The reborn woman thinks of lives lost and those responsible. She thinks about how easy it would be to kill and make the issue done. She thinks on the many callouses on her feet from dance, of how human it is to harden when exposed to the rough edges of life.
To fail to harden... does the grey skinned woman understand the Way of the Willow?
The reborn woman leans forward and ignites the candle. “We'll need light for the reading.”
“And for the question... how about 'should we stay and fight, or flee the keep'. No, on second thought, 'what is our fate if we stay and fight?”
“A strength question.”
The first card is placed on the grimy altar.
“The Rabbit Prince... in a lawful position, someone's luck in melee turned bad. I wonder what that could mean.” the reborn woman said bitterly.
“Ah, but so did Nualia's, and its position in the good alignment would indicate a favorable outcome in some respect.”
“Is Nualia's death favorable?”
“Let's not get into that right now. I know your feelings on the matter, but we saved lives with what we did here.”
The reborn woman shrugs noncommittally and the second card is placed.
“The Inquisitor, an attempt at deception or influence will fail. An enemy will attempt to trick us and we won't be tricked.”
“But what monster could attempt to deceive? We'll know anything here will be hostile.”
The reborn woman taps the edge of the next card in thought. “Perhaps the whispering monster behind the wall will draw us close with an illusion and we'll see right through it... or maybe the goblin king will employ illusions and we'll still overcome him.”
The third card is placed.
“The Tyrant... a totally inauspicious placement, but it represents a ruler who harms those he rules... it sounds in line with the Goblin King. Perhaps its inauspicious placement represents a change of status for him, a misjudgement or failure on his part.”
“Sounds like a bit of a stretch, could it not mean that it represents ill luck for us?”
“If so, it'd be in the Lawful Evil position. And it'd be the Fiend, the strength card. In any case the importance of this card to the overall reading is nearly insignificant.”
The fourth card is placed.
“The... Fiend.” Truly to speak of the devil is to make him appear. “A disaster or monster will kill us all.”
“Oh come now, it doesn't always literally mean that, and it's in a Lawful alignment, meaning it has a bearing mostly on the past.”
“True... perhaps a relic of a bygone era will be discovered, depicting or detailing the tragic deaths of many innocents in that long past time. Worth noting is this is the most significant meaning of the reading so far... this relic will appear much more significant than any of us will be able to puzzle out.”
The fifth card is placed.
“The Idiot, greed and folly... this clearly indicates that the pillar made to look like coins, that we are so desperate to get through, will lead to folly... but, its relation to the Inquisitor indicates it is leading to the deception we will see through.”
“But wasn't that also relating to the Goblin King? And shouldn't its relationship to the Fiend indicate that the relic of a bygone era is beyond that coin wall too?”
“Perhaps, but I was assuming the relic of the bygone era was the undead in the crypt, since tragedy often leads to unquiet corpses and spirits.”
“Hmm...” was all the grey skinned half-elf had to say further.
The sixth card is placed.
“The Cricket, at the end of our journey, we will find our greatest reward... our most significant result of staying will pale compared to what we get when we return to Sandpoint.”
“It really seems like you're pushing the idea of staying as inauspicious...” the grey skinned woman began, sounding suspicious. “I seem to remember you were lobbying pretty strong for return to town.”
The reborn woman sighed, “Yes, I was, and I unappologetically admit my preference may be coloring my interpretation, but you'd have to be pretty biased towards staying to find the Fiend being the most significant aspect of the reading as an endorsement of your preference.”
The grey skinned woman spread her hands, “Sorry, I shouldn't have accused you of that... I can tell this means a lot to you. It did to my mother as well.”
“Did? Then I'm sorry for your loss.”
“It's long since scarred. Thank you though. Perhaps we should compare family histories sometime, maybe we're cousins?”
“I... I'm afraid that's impossible... for several reasons.”
A silence falls between them.
“Perhaps we should simply continue the reading.”
The seventh card is placed.
“The Queen Mother... a knowledgable ruler will show preference to those who submit to her authority?” the reborn woman taps at its edges thoughtfully. “I... can't see the relation here. I don't know what this means. Perhaps someone from town is working to solicit our obedience, and our reward will lead to further services at this person's behest... I couldn't tell you.”
The eighth card is placed.
“The Desert... a difficult scenario, to be overcome only with great risk and outside assistance. This represents the whole facility of Thistletop, and how we wouldn't have survived... well, the rest of your wouldn't have survived or would continue to survive without the aid of Orick and the help of each other.”
“That's pretty obvious, but what does it have to do with the fate of staying and fighting?”
“Not... that much actually. Its placement is inauspicious and it contains no new insights. At most it indicates that Orick is not finished helping us quite yet, that our fates still rest somewhat in his hands.”
The final card is placed.
“The Bear... another significant piece, but not so much so as the Fiend... the two seem tied, such that this relic of a time long gone, and the unknown it represents has a strength that cannot be tamed or controlled. It will rampage like a beast.”
“We will be ready for it.” the grey skinned woman looked confident and determined as she departed to make her own preparations for bed.
The reborn woman gathered her cards carefully, reflecting on the reading and the woman who had asked for it. It had felt good to read of the cards. It felt natural. Perhaps if she continued to do what was natural to her she'd begin to feel better about what had happened to her.
|
|
Bdib
New Member
Posts: 21
|
Post by Bdib on Mar 24, 2013 17:35:51 GMT -7
The dusky skinned woman carefully applies rouge, examining her reflection in the burnished bronze mirror, “Can't see color for shite in this bloody thing” she mumbles under her breath. She fingers her new leather choker, made to hide her scars. No amount of color would distract from the evidence of that wound.
The night waiting outside is thick with dampness, and noisy with the buzz of insects. The cold bath the woman had just taken has left a comfortable chill that she expects will last less than an hour, and she needs every moment of it to count. Her preparations done she turns to leave when her door in nearly broken down with a ball of enthusiastic Cheliaxite.
“Lady Zeldana! I need you to read me a fortune!”
So surprised is the golden eyed woman that she stands dumbfounded at his sudden appearance. The silence gives him a moment to notice her outfit and makeup.
“Where are you going, dressed like that? It's past curfew.”
“Nevermind that, what are you doing barging into my room like this? What if I had been sleeping, or indecent?”
“I suppose in this land of impropriety what you're already wearing somehow isn't considered indecent? Bah, irrelevant! I must know things about the future.”
Balancing in her head the time she'd lose discouraging his questioning and the time she'd lose giving him a reading, she quickly concludes that the one is considerably faster than the other. Considering how far down the night's candle has already burned she can't afford further delay.
She scoots the wooden chest she stores her belongings between them to serve as a sort of flat surface, places the candle on it to give enough light and sits on the edge of her bed.
“Very well, I will give you a reading, if you promise to return to your room and go to sleep when we finish.” she says, resignedly. He guffaws in his inimitable style and says, “May the devil take me if I lie, I will molest you no further this night.” He kneels in a strange way that the dusky skinned woman can only assume is a monastic technique to increase pain tolerance.
She places the deck on the semi-flat surface between them, “I'll need a question, to guide the fates.”
“Aren't you going to shuffle? You may have stacked the deck to ensure my fate is one of disaster!” the man across from her says, eyes widening in nearly certain accusation.
“First, such an act is near-sacrilege for my people. The act of a Harrow reading is culturally hallowed.”
“Harrow is Harrowed? What? Your words are confusing me, leading in circles as they do!.”
“No, no... listen, Harrow is very important to my culture”
“Well, naturally! It prevents raising the dead, so of course your burial rites would include it.”
“Not Hallow, Harrow!”
“Well now you're just being silly. Now get on with shuffling up so you can sanctify my question against the undead!”
“Look, you clearly aren't... whatever, but you don't shuffle a Harrow deck, particularly not one as old as this one. It rearranges itself while stored, predicting not only the next question that will be asked of it, but forming itself into the correct sequence of cards to give insight.”
“That's horrifying!” he springs to his feet!
She blinks, looking up at him, “What? Why do you say that?”
“Well, if the deck is already arranged in a way that its content answers one specific question that I have yet to ask, then it means no matter what, I will always ask that specific question.”
“What's your point?”
“If I can't make a meaningful choice even of what question I ask, how am I supposed to react to the knowledge of the future to change it? If I were to ask, “What is my next Harrow Question going to be?”, the cards are already arranged to answer that question. If I somehow knew the answer to that question before asking it, I still would have no way of asking a different question of the Harrow deck, because it is already set answering my first question.”
“I...” The woman was taken aback, she hadn't really expected this, or really thought about it much. Harrow was Harrow, and from an outside perspective it kind of did seem a little absurd. “I think you're overthinking it. We can't really know how the process works, just that it does.”
“I think you're avoiding the issue! How can you claim to see the future when you can't figure out how your tools work? It's like claiming to have carved a marble statue without knowing how a chisel works!”
“Look, do you want a reading or not?” The woman was beginning to grow annoyed with the man's tone.
“I will consent to a reading. I will let you know if it is accurate, and then you can give up your superstition if I let you know it is wrong.” He settles back to his uncomfortable looking position.
Unbelievable.
“So... what was your question?”
“Well, my question was going to be 'Will I find justice delivered down onto Tsuto's stupid, lying face tomorrow?” but now I want to ask why you cleave to this practice.”
The woman draws breath slowly through her nose and lets it out slowly through her lips, imagining she is blowing out of her all the negative emotions clouding her mind... a meditation technique from her childhood in the Way of the Leaf.
“I believe in the Heart of the Cards. It is in randomness that we find the hand of fate, and it is the understanding of fate that leads us to the control we have.”
“A weak philosophy for weak people, but I will not criticize.”
The golden eyed woman shakes her head increduously, then realizes the hour is wasting away as they debate worldviews.
“So, the question is of whether Tsuto will find justice tomorrow? A wisdom question to be sure.”
The first card is revealed quickly, before the man can interject further.
“The Fiend... normally, this would be largely disregarded for being in opposition to the auspicious aspect, but because you're evil, the reading is inverted.”
The man nodded calmly, “Of course.”
“...Since you're evil...” She almost totally fails to understand the idea that he did not deny it, causing her to hesitate, “...It means great disaster, in this case to your enemies... but its Lawful reading frame implies that it is the ongoing state of affairs, not necessarily that your enemies will be destroyed, but that so far your enemies have been crushed by your strength.”
“Ha! I changed my mind, this is a wonderful game! Tell me more about my great strength and victories!”
The second card is placed.
“The... the Fiend...” She looks at the two cards, identical figures staring back at her. She lifts the cards, checking their backsides. The unique pattern of her grandmother's harrow deck laid on both of them, painstakingly etched to an exactitude that couldn't be replicated save through magic. Increasing in panic, she swiftly beings counting the cards left in the deck.
“What are you doing? Is this part of the reading?”
“This is impossible! There is only one copy of each card in a Harrow deck! There can't possibly be two Fiends.”
“So your deck has been tampered with?”
“I never let it out of my sight” she curses, having lost count. She begins again, “Now shut up, I've got to figure this out.”
There were exactly the right number of cards left... the reading was valid.
“It's... I don't understand it but the Fiend belongs to both positions for you.”
“HA! I am the devil!”
“I guess so. In this position, the Fiend means that you trust in your strength ahead of your concerns for innocence. You judge your own opinion to be more important than guilt or innocence.”
“Oh absolutely. It is obviously the case, no?”
She sighs, placing the third card. She then buries her face in her palm.
“The Fiend... again.”
“HA! It means I will crush my enemies, see them driven before me, and hear the lamentations of their women!”
“...Yeah, sure... why not? Your enemies can look forward to disaster as much as they can look backwards and see destruction and can see right now you value yourself higher than right or wrong.”
“All is well with the world!” the man seemed almost childlike with joy.
She mutely places the fourth card.
“The Fiend.”
“HA! More destruction for my enemies I presume?”
“Actually... the detail is obscured by the strength of the Devilric influence, but at this point it begins to point to a destructiveness that follows you back through your life. You've never left a place loved, have you? At least not until now?”
The man's excited smile quieted, his intensity fading and sudden vulnerability made the red headed woman move on quickly, “Your dark history may not be at an end. Perhaps you will meet again those you left behind, and you will have a chance to make good.”
“Y... yeah, maybe.”
The fifth card is placed.
“The Fiend... What's there to say?... You are the Devil.”
“Yes I am!” the Devil pumps a fist in excitement.
The sixth card is placed.
“The Fiend... I get the feeling from this that someone will be revealed to be a monster... that an innocent will die in the revelation of a hidden Devil amongst us. Perhaps the Magistrate or the advocate will wind up complicit in the crimes of Tsuto.”
“Unthinkable! I will judge them as harshly as I judge Tsuto. With my fists!” the Devil seemed to make a motion to get up, as if he was to hunt them down this moment.
“At least wait until they reveal themselves, or else perhaps you will strike in error.”
“HA! Wise you are, I will not let my enemies escape by being foolish! Continue your game, perhaps it will tell me who deserves a kick in and around their most vital of organs.”
The seventh card is placed.
“The Fiend... as strong as you are, you have always been surrounded by those stronger than you, forcing you to compromise or cowtow. You've done so, and it has nearly destroyed you.”
As quickly as before, the enthusiasm dies in the eyes of the Devil, to be replaced by wariness. “I don't like it when you talk about me. It... it isn't true the things you say. I would return to talking about the trial.”
The eighth card is placed.
“The Fiend...” she was getting pretty fed up with seeing that cruel, devouring beast. “You face grave danger at the Trial. You will walk the edge of death, but it will be innocents who die, not you.”
“Whew, that is a relief.” he grins, “Are we finished?”
“No, we have to place all nine cards or we face a curse.”
“Oh no! I would not have a curse! Quick, reveal the last card! I wonder what it will be.”
The final card is placed.
“Well, in an inverted reading frame, this is an inauspicious placement, and it doesn't mean anything further.”
She looks out over the field saturated with Devils, each seeming to be winking up at her in the midst of their meal.
“You asked a Wisdom question, but there was no Wisdom card in the reading. This means that while a question of morality, or guilt or innocence, madness or clear headedness will arise, it will be answered with fighting. Whether Tsuto will attack us, or a third party will assassinate him, it will not be through words that he finds justice.”
“Fine by me. A trial by combat is far less barbaric than the idea of excusing murder due to insanity!”
The Devil rises, “forgive my hasty words about the evils of this game, I had no idea so much magic was involved to let the impossibility of an arrangement get in the way of an accurate reading. I am heartened by this reading, and I shall sleep like an evil baby tonight.” He swept from the room, leaving the dusky skinned woman in stunned silence.
She carefully collects the nine Fiends and reintegrates them into the deck. She stares at the deck for a moment. What she is considering is discouraged, but not a heresy. She picks up the deck and searches through it, counting each card and searching for duplicates. She sets the deck down, only one Fiend was to be found, and no cards were missing. She shudders, regarding the deck almost like an asp, ready to strike. She had never seen a reading such as that one, and wondered at what it could possibly mean.
Seeing the hour in the candle's low point, she hastens to leave. She has far too important things to do this night than worry at what an impossible Harrow reading could mean.
|
|
